by bvernia | November 16th, 2009
DOJ announced on November 16 that it was intervening in a qui tam suit in the ND Georgia against two companies which contracted with DOD to provide food for American troops in the Middle East. Defendants in the suit are Public Warehousing Company (PWC) and its CEO, Tarek Abbul Aziz Sultan Al-Essa, and The Sultan Center Food Products Company. The qui tam relator is Kamal Mustafa Al-Sultan, the owner of a Kuwaiti company, an erstwhile partner of PWC.
DOJ’s announcement states:
The complaint alleges that defendants knowingly overcharged the United States for locally available fresh fruits and vegetables that PWC purchased through TSC. The complaint also alleges that PWC failed to disclose and pass through rebates and discounts it obtained from its U.S.-based suppliers, as required by its contracts.
The US also announced PWC’s indictment on six counts, including two counts of conspiracy, two counts of major fraud against the US, and two counts of wire fraud.
The relator is represented Raymond Moss and Gerald Kline of Sims Moss Kline and Davis LLP, and by Jerome Froelich, Jr., all of Atlanta.
